Hopper with openable gate in bottom wall



March 7, 1950 s. GooKlNL 2,499,491

HOPPER WITH OPENABLE GATE IN BOTTOM vWALL Filed Deo. 22, 1944 Patented Mar. 7, 1950 HOPPER 'WITH OPENABLE GATE IN BOTTOM WALL Sylvester L. Gookin, Quincy, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, 'Fleming- 't0n, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey ApplcationDecember 22, 1944, Serial No. 569,333

4 Claims. 1

The purpose of the present invention is to provide .improvements in hoppers and raceways for supplying small articles 'in orderly sequence .from a mass of sucharticles. The improved features hereinafter described are illustrated as embodied in a hopper and a raceway designed to supply eyelets in han eyeleting machine of the Vtype set forth in United 'States Letters Patent No. 2,443,682, granted June 22, 11948, on an application led in the name of Clyde L. Knott.

In shoe factories, eyelets of many different sizes and styles are required for shoes of various styles, and this circumstance involves the removal of every residual unused eyelet from the ,raceway and hopper of an eyeleting machine whenever the latter is to be loaded with .eyelets of a different size, color or style.

The raceway and hopper hereinafter described are designed to expedite the removal of residual unused eyelets vand to insure their total removal despite a tendency of some of 'them to remain concealed or caught by the brush located in the hopper to stir the eyelets and feed them toward an emission port.

For that purpose the lhopper is provided with a large opening in the bottom for discharging residual unused eyelets away from the emission port, and with a gate mounted on a hinge-pin in the manner of a downwardly opening trapdoor which, when closed, contains `the eyelets in the hopper. A rotary brush carried 'by the gate is arranged to stir the 'eyelets and feed some of them toward the emission port when the gate is closed, but, if rotated when the gate is open, it casts off the Afew residual eyelets that might otherwise remain on the gate or in the tufts of the brush. For that 4reason the hinge-pin is arranged to be rotated individually and the .gate is provided with means for transmitting `Vrotation from the pin to the brush not only when the gate is closed but in all positions thereof without interrupting the driving relations of the transmission elements.

Removal of unused eyelets from the raceway may be accomplished by detaching the latter and inverting it end for end. When the elements are assembled in their cooperative relation the receiving end of the raceway projects into an opening in the hopper and is movable relatively thereto, while the delivery end is supported by a movable member arranged to move it to and fro sidewise without moving the hopper. The delivery end and the movable supporting member are provided with coupling means by which the (Cl. 21S-15.1)

receiving endof the -raceway is maintained in its Opening in the hopper.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation olf a hopper, a raceway and portions of an eyeleting machinein assembled relation;

Fig. 2 is an inclined Sectional plan indicated by line II-II in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View indicated --by line III-III in Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the lower portion of the raceway; and

Fig. `5 is an angular vewof the blockby which the upper end of the raceway is supported.

The hopper I0 is mounted on and aixed to a supporting structure which may be the frame II of an eyelet-inserting machine of the type shown and described in the aforesaid -Knott patent. The hopper lhas an inclined bottom wall I2 -and chamber-forming walls 4I3 extending upwardly therefrom. A large opening I4 is provided -in the bottom wall to discharge unused eyelets when it is desired to -clear the hopper, but this opening is normally closed by a gate SI5 mounted on a horizontal hinge-.pin I6, the gate having a pair of spaced ears l(Fig. 3) through which the pin extends. A torsion spring I1 normally closes the gate and thereby vmaintains its eyelet-supporting surface .I8 in an inclined plane and in contact with the -under surface ofthe wall I2 with enough force to sustain any load-of eyelets within the capacity of the hopper. vA handle I9 for-med on or affixed to one of the ears of the gate provides for opening the klatter against the closing force of the spring Il. When the handle is swung upwardly the lower margin of the gate swings downwardly, .and the contents of the hopper will then be discharged through the opening I4. The frame Il is provided with a baille .20 arranged to deflect the discharged eyelets into a box, lcan or otherreceptacle (not shown). The upper margin of the gate has a cylindrical sur-face 2| in concentric relation to the pin I6 .and .in tangential relation to the under surface of the wall I2 to prevent eyelets from being caught in that region when the gate is'open.

The hinge-pin I6 is journaled in the frame II and may be rotated without moving the gate. A pulley 22 aiixed to the pin is arranged to transmit rotation from a belt 23. The gate carries a rotary assemblage comprising a brush 24, a worm-gear 25 and a shaft 26 connecting them, the brush being inside the gate and arranged to lie in the opening I4 when the gate is closed. The gear 25 is outside the gate, and the shaft extends through the gate and is journaled in it. The gear 25 cooperates with a worm 2'I to transmit rotation Ifrom the pin I6 to the brush, the worm being afxed to the pin.

When the gate is closed the brush stirs the eyelets lying on the surface I8 and feeds some of them toward the upper end of a raceway 30, but when the gate is open the brush will cast off any eyelets lodged on or between its tufts, since its rotation is not interrupted by opening the gate.

The upper end of the raceway projects into the wall I3 of the hopper that has contact with the lower margin of the gate. The opening for its reception is formed in part in the baffle portion 20 and in part in the lower surface of a block 3I mortised into the contiguous wall I3 of the hopper and constituting a movable section thereof. The baille portion 20 provides support for the raceway without constraining it against lengthwise movement or sidewise angular movement. The block 3| and the contiguous wall I3 have mated cylindrical bearing surfaces 32 that enable the block to oscillate about its center in response to sidewise angular movement of the raceway. When the upper end of the raceway is installed as shown in Fig. 1 the supporting element 20 maintains its channel in register with the normal plane of the eyelet-supporting surface I8 of the gate` The lower end of the raceway is supported and oscillated sidewise by an arm 33 to present eyelets to an eyelet-inserting tool (not shown). The arm 33 has a shank or stem portion 34 journaled in the frame II and is oscillated by a poweroperated mechanism including an operating arm the hub 35 of which is afxed to the stem portion 34.

To provide an operating connection between the raceway and the arm 33, a steel ball 36 is interposed between them, the arm having a hemispherical socket 31 and the raceway having a similar socket in which the ball is seated. A semicircular spring clip 38 is provided to maintain assembled relation of these parts. One end of the clip is attached to the arm by a hingepin 35] and the other end is provided with a small teat to engage a depression in the raceway. When the clip is disengaged, the raceway may be removed from the ball and then its upper end may be withdrawn from the hopper, but when the ball-and-socket elements are assembled and clipped, the ball maintains the assembled relation of the raceway and the hopper. When a loaded race-way is detached, it may be emptied by inverting it end for end, and the eyelets therein will run out through the entering end of its channel which is straight and uninterrupted.

The mounting of the raceway is not claimed herein but forms the subject matter of divisional application Serial No. 102,295, filed June 30, 1949.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A hopper having an opening in the bottom for discharging residual contents, a gate formed and arranged to close said opening, a rotatable hinge-pin on which the gate is arranged to swing to and from said opening, bearing means in which said pin is journaled, means for transmitting rotation to said pin, rotatable means carried by the gate for stirring the contents of the hopper, and means arranged to transmit rotation from said pin to said stirring means.

2. A hopper having an opening in the bottom for discharging residual contents, a gate formed and arranged to close said opening, a rotatable hinge-pin on which the gate is arranged to swing to and from said opening, bearing means in which said pin is journaled, means for transmitting rotation to said pin, a worm carried by said pin, a worm-gear carried by said gate in cooperative relation to said worm, and means carried by said worm-gear for stirring the contents of the hopper.

3. A hopper having an opening in the bottom for discharging residual contents, a gate formed and arranged to close said opening, a rotatable hinge-pin on which the gate is4 arranged to swing to and from said opening, bearing means in which said pin is journaled, means for transmitting rotation to said pin, a shaft extending through said gate and journaled therein, a wormgear secured to said shaft outside the gate in cooperative relation to said worm, and means secured to said shaft inside the gate for stirring th-e contents of the hopper.

4. A hopper having an opening in the bottom for discharging residual contents, a gate formed and arranged to close said opening, a rotatable hinge-pin on which the gate is arranged to swing upwardly to close said opening and downwardly to release the contents, `bearing means in which said pin is journaled, means for transmitting rotation to said pin, a rotary brush carried by the gate and arranged to lie in said opening when the gate is closed, means arranged to transmit rotation from said pin to said brush, and a 3 spring arranged to close the gate.

SYLVESTER L. GOOKIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this [patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,689,949 Lautenschlager Oct. 30, 1928 1,739,996 White Dec. 17, 1929 2,018,936 Watt Oct. 29, 1935 2,036,352 Newhall Apr. 7, 1936 2,248,139 Thomason July 8, 1941 2,254,215 Gookin Sept; 2, 1941 2,374,345 Gookin Apr. 24, 1945 

